Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, is a mythical sea monster that was first sighted in the dark waters of Lake Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. Nessie is described to be a large creature that inhabits the lake and is believed to be a long-surviving plesiosaurs.

The creature has been given the title, a modern-day myth where the sightings are merely misidentifications according to scientists. The monster has never been interpreted as harmful and more of just a scary creature.

"Surgeon's Photograph"

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The nickname Nessie derived from the Scottish Gaelic[1] word, a Celtic language, Niseag. The popular name for the monster has been around since the 1940s. The Loch Ness Monster has remained one of the most unique creatures in the study of cryptozoology[2], otherwise known as the study of animals that are “hidden.” The Scottish were notorious for legends regarding monsters.

The Loch Ness Monster has been described in a variety of different ways but is most commonly described as resembling a plesiosaurs, an ocean inhabiting creature of the Jurassic period that is believed to have gone extinct roughly sixty-six million years ago. "Nessie," has also been described as resembling a long necked amphibian, such as a newt. Despite a number of debates over what the monster really looks like it is generally accepted that Nessie has two humps, a tail, a long neck, and small head. Although it is understood that the creature has fins rather than leg-like extremities, it has been suggested that it can walk across dry land (such as beaches) as well.

Ancient inhabitants, in the Scottish Highlands, over a thousand years ago carved the monster into stone walls and surfaces - making the carvings the earliest piece of evidence that showed their was a very unfamiliar creature lurking in the waters.

Saint Columba who was an Irish missionary first sighted Nessie in 565 A.D. While he was working on a project to spread Christianity in Scotland, Columba encountered a deceased man being buried by a small group stating a huge monster in the River Ness had bitten him[3]. Saint Columba had another man swim across the river and as soon as he jumped in the monster appeared and Columba banished it using God’s power. However the story was not written until some time after but still is used as part of Nessie’s myth.

In 1933, almost 1,200 years later after the first sighting by Columba, George Spicer, a man, was driving with his wife when they spotted Nessie[4]. They claimed to have seen a giant creature walking. Spicer explained that the monster had a long neck and very large body. Not even a month later a man on his motorcycle described a similar creature stating it looked like a prehistoric marine animal with four fins and a long neck. The description matched closely to Spicer’s and was fit to the image of a plesiosaur[5].

As a new road was being built along the coast of the lake, more sightings were recorded. The first picture of the Loch Ness Monster was by Hugh Gray[6] in November 1933. He saw a large creature surface the water and instinctually took an abundance of pictures. Out of all the pictures, only one was salvageable to get a clear image. The image showed a creature with a long neck, fat body and four limbs that appeared to be large flippers.

Later in 1933 after Gray’s photograph, a hunter, Marmaduke Wetherell was hired to find parts and evidence of the monster. He was fired for not being able to provide factual evidence.

The Loch Ness Monster’s most famous image was published by the Daily Mail and is known as the “Surgeon’s Photograph,”[7] because it was taken by a doctor who wanted to remain anonymous. The photo was later claimed to be a hoax and the men admitted they made a model of Nessie’s neck.

The Loch Ness monster was supposedly a creature to be feared until the film, “The Water Horse” in 2007[8] showed Nessie in a different light. A more reserved interpretation to show she shouldn’t be feared.

Many theories have also been constructed based on facts of the lake. The lake itself contains high levels of peat and other organic content which makes the water very dark and impossible to see what is in the depths, even with advanced cameras. One theory, created by oceanographers and Nessie-hunters, is that the lake contains a passageway to the ocean which would gives a reason as to why the monster is seen so sporadically.

Even with the use of modern-day technology, the darkness of the lake remains, making advanced lights and viewfinders useless. However, the economy in Scotland was flourishing and still, in most ways, is due to the myth. Hotels are busy year round with adventurers hoping to solve the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster, boating tour operations into the lake are popular daily, and even small merchants benefit from the stuffed animals and things they sell that looks like or have to do with the creature.

The Taylor Film, 1938, was when Taylor filmed evidence in the lake and refused to show it to the curious eye. A single part was put into his book, The Elusive Monster.[9]

The Sonar image in 2011[10] was where Marcus Atkinson photographed a large and wide object and claimed it to be the Loch Ness Monster.

“The Loch” by Steve Alten[11] is a book or rather novel of the monster and has many elements both historically and scientifically throughout the novel.

The movie “Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster” [12]is where the characters travel to Scotland to investigate the Blake Castle, which they soon realize, has been interrupted by the Loch Ness Monster.

“Lassie” the 2007 film[13], the Loch Ness Monster can be seen swimming in the lake of Loch.

“The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep,” another 2007 film, a young boy hatches a egg which belongs to the Loch Ness Monster and soon releases it but remains close to the creature, making Nessie for once not seem so terrifying. The movie also includes a portion that is thought to describe the historical moment of the “Surgeon’s Photograph.”